Chances
by CrazyTenor42
Summary: Sirius, after falling through the veil, has been changed into his dog form and is unknowingly adopted by Hermione. Cursed by the power of the veil an unable to walk or talk, Sirius is trapped in a silent nightmare. Hermione/Sirius.


Sirius Black was falling into a mist. His wand tumbled from his outstretched hand and dissolved away. Whispers were calling out to him and he started to shout out in reply. He could hear Harry and Remus shouting for him in desperation. Sirius tried to yell out as loudly as he could; he is not dead, not yet, why won't Harry and Remus rescue him?

Sirius starts to thrash about wildly in the mist. He is being suspended by nothing; there is no solid surface or restraints that he can feel. A thin white plume of smoke started working its way towards him. It envelops his whole body. An awful, tight pressure starts filling him as if his whole body was being compressed by a vacuum. His body suddenly slams down onto a hard surface and Sirius feels nothing more.

* * *

"Hermione! Hermione! Can you slow down?" Hermione slowed her pace and Ron ran up to her.

"Honestly! Haven't you ever used the muggle underground?"

"Never needed to. I still don't know why you can't go to the Magical Menagerie. That's where you got-." Ron broke off; reminded of the reason they were on this excursion to begin with. Crookshanks had died a few months after Hermione, Harry, and Ron had come back from their sixth year at Hogwarts. Hermione had not wanted to bother anyone by getting a new animal, especially as Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione, were now permanently living in Grimwauld Place, but they had all assured her that they wouldn't mind.

Hermione continued her brisk pace, navigating between the throngs of people fighting to get onboard.

"I'm not going there because all those pets have some magical talent or ability. You know how Crookshanks recognized Sirius and Peter. I just want a normal pet."

They exited the underground. It was extremely cold and windy, Ron and Hermione were grateful that the pound was only a few streets away. They sped up their pace and were soon pushing open the doors to the pound. She and Ron began walking around, occasionally stopping to read the informational sheets placed next to the cages.

* * *

Sirius was curled up in his cage, watching a few people walk by. His cage was placed in the far back of the store with the rest of the older, not-as-sought animals. Sirius had been found by a few pound workers, buried in the snow. Sirius had no idea how long he had been in this cage; time was hard to keep track of. All he could remember before he had been brought here were snapshots.

After he had fallen through the veil, he had woken up in the middle of an unfamiliar street, in his Animagus form, unable to move his hind legs or make a sound. Sirius had to drag himself out of the street and, with strenuous effort, into a nearby park. No one wanted to take in a crippled dog, particularly one was large and ferocious looking as Sirius. The occasional park goers would throw him scraps of food, but once the weather got colder, these visits became less and less frequent. Sirius knew his time was limited.

Even at the pound Sirius knew he wouldn't last long as the dog. Most people in the Wizarding community thought he was dead or a criminal but if he wasn't adopted soon, he would be put to sleep. Sirius was torn between relief -after all, he didn't want to spend the rest of his life as a dog- and misery. At least Harry and the others would think h died heroically and not as a worthless dog.

He stopped to watch as a teenager with bushy brown hair and another teenager with flaming red hair, whom he assumed must be her boyfriend, walk by his cage. He recognized them in an instant as his godson's best friends. He raised himself up on his two front paws, desperately trying to get their attention. Sirius knew it was a futile attempt. His spark of giddy hope was distinguished by reality. Hermione and Ron thought he was dead; they must be here looking for another pet-or new- cat for Crookshanks.

Sure enough, Ron and Hermione turned away to another row of cages.

* * *

"Ron, that dog back there-the scruffy looking black one-"

"-the thing with the squished nose?"

"No, the larger one, with the silver eyes."

"Hermione, that dog had two useless legs!"

"But the sign said he never barks. And he looked so lost and sad…"

"You'd still have to carry the thing around the house!"

"But at least I could give it a safe home. It's already been here a month, that's long for an older stray at a place like this."

Ron eyed her doubtfully. "He'll die in a few years most likely."

"That's longer than he'll last in this place. Besides," Hermione lowered her voice and drew closer to Ron, "I'm sure a few spells could fix its legs."

Ron saw the pleading and determined look in her eye and became resigned to the fact that Hermione wanted that one dog. Hermione was slightly swayed by Ron's argument. She already lost Crookshanks, she didn't want to get another pet that would die so soon.

* * *

Sirius watched Hermione walk past his cage again, casting a sad look at him as she moved towards the front of the store, Ron right behind her. Dejectedly, Sirius put his head in his paws. A few minutes later, he felt the lock of his cage click open and a pair of hands pulled him gently from the cage. Opening his eyes, Sirius saw a mane of fluffy chestnut curls as Hermione placed him in a portable cage.

* * *

"You're darn lucky Hermione's got a soft spot for creatures like you," Ron told the dog; he was waiting for Hermione to pay and fill out the necessary papers, "no one else would have looked twice at you."

Hermione returned a few seconds later and Ron, carrying Sirius' cage, left the store and headed back into the cold street. Hermione stopped before they went into the underground and wrapped her coat around the dog. Ron raised an eyebrow.

"He looked cold."

When the three of them arrived at Grimwauld Place, Harry and Ginny were sitting at the kitchen table waiting for them. Hermione gently pulled the dog out of the cage and it lay on the table as Hermione pet its head affectionately.

Harry gave Ron a questioning look. The dog looked friendly enough, but Harry had assumed that Hermione was going to bring home a kitten or puppy, not what was lying on the table.

Ginny spoke Harry's unvoiced concerns. "Hermione, that dog…it doesn't look-well, I don't think it's going to…it's seems friendly and all…"

"Ginny, it can't use its hind legs!"

Harry looked incredulously at her. "Hermione, I know you meant well, but you'll have to carry that dog everywhere."

The dog pulled itself slightly closer to where Hermione was sitting.

"I'm sure a few healing spells will fix it."

"I don't know…..there's some stuff that magic can't fix, certain hexes, or birth defects and such." Ginny informed her.

"I told her, Harry. I told her to get one of the younger animals but she insisted on this one."

"Everyone adopts the younger animals. This one would have been left there. At least he's friendly."

She took her wand out of her pocket and waved it at the dog. Its fur became less matted and sleeker. Teetering slightly, the dog reached out and swatted her wand from her hand. A flurry of red sparks started erupting around the kitchen.

"Ow! Hermione! The dog's already causing problems!"

"Just because it was simply curious, Ron-"

"-not to interrupt but I don't have my wand on me and these sparks sting!"

Ginny drew her wand form her back pocket. "Finite Incantatem!"

The shower of sparks stopped and Hermione snatched her wand away. The dog was twitching. Hermione tentatively raised a hand to it when the dog slowly started changing. The dark fur was shrinking back into its body- a body that was slowly becoming more humanoid.

Sirius Black lay on the table in place of the dog. His black hair had become slightly streaked with grey and he was unshaven and grimy. He was wearing the same clothes as he had when he had fallen into the veil.

Harry was staring straight at him with the same confused, uncertain look as he had worn when they had first met in Harry's third year.

"Go get Remus, Harry."

"What?"

"Go get Remus," Hermione repeated, "Sirius is dead. This-this can't be him and if it is…. Remus will know what to do."

"I'll go with him." Ginny eyed Sirius doubtfully. "Keep your wands on him."

Hermione and Ron both nodded and watched Harry and Ginny clamber to the fireplace and disappear in a burst of green flame.


End file.
